Planners Deny West Delray Project

January 7, 1986|By Stephen J. Cohen, Staff Writer

Zoning attorney Bill Boose Monday sat shaking his head after a hearing on his client`s proposed office/housing project west of Delray Beach.

The county Planning Commission endorsed Federated Realty Inc.`s request to rezone 101.7 acres for 457 garden apartments and patio homes. But it unanimously recommended rejection of the firm`s requested rezoning for commercial offices, two restaurants and a bank on 16.75 acres.

Both projects lie on the southwest corner of Delray West Road (West Atlantic Avenue) and Hagen Ranch Road, east of Florida`s Turnpike.

The commercial development would occupy 169,500 square feet, located on the perimeter of the site. The commercial area would be accessible to the residential area only via a foot bridge over a man-made lake, Boose said.

Commissioner Warren Newell, who made the motion to recommend that the County Commission, sitting as the Zoning Board later this month, deny the commercial rezoning request, listed two reasons:

The project was not marketable and

The entire project should be one planned unit development, instead of two. That would reduce the commercial area to 2.5 acres, he said.

Assistant County Attorney Sandra Sprague earlier that day had instructed commissioners that, based on a recent Circuit Court ruling, they could not use marketability as a reason to reject a commercial rezoning.

Sprague also told Newell that Federated was entitled to a separate PUD for its 16.7 acres because the county land-use plan designated that parcel as such. Forcing the developer into a planned unit development, limiting it to only 2.5 acres of commercial area, could violate his legal rights, she warned.

Commissioner Linda Leopard, however, summed up the objections of several commissioners. She blamed her no vote on the traffic impact.

``The traffic approach will be from the east,`` she said. ``That place is a zoo now. The (road system) has a long way to go to catch up,`` she said.

Boose stressed that Federated had agreed to contribute $735,000 to widen Military Trail just northwest of Delray Beach as an impact fee from its project -- much more than he is obligated to pay, he said.

County engineers said no roads near the development needs widening but Military Trail desperately does.

Boose noted traffic counts show Atlantic Avenue near Federated`s project is operating well below its listed capacity. Further east it is a problem, he conceded.

Commission Vice Chairman Frank Behrman said, however, the traffic west of Military is terrible. ``West Atlantic Avenue is second only to Glades Road in terms of traffic congestion in the county,`` Behrman said, adding, however, ``I don`t believe your development will impact or impede traffic (significantly).``

But he voted no explaining he believes the two restaurants will attract too much traffic. ``I can see the office buildings, but not the restaurants,`` he said.

These rezonings were rejected in late September by the Zoning Board, when commissioners became alarmed that the South County Political Cooperative appeared to have made certain demands from the developer, then dropped its opposition to the project. The commission blamed the cooperative, not the developer.